I know how important is EV Training, so it should have its own thread.

Our friend DiamondAngel wrote this awesome thread. So before the admins erased it, I saved it to make it official. I'm sure DiamondAngel posted some rules... but well... If additional information, I will be adding the information to the thread.

Here goes the thread.

“The EV Training guide”(Everything you wanted to know about Effort Values but were afraid to ask!)​

Hello everyone! With permission from The_Loose_Cannon, I have made this little tutorial and Q&A where a collection of questions submitted by you help to answer many of the common questions and even some more in-depth questions as well. Let's get started

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1.) What are EV and its origins?

First let’s start off with the term EV which means Effort Values. This is referring to the system that is used to give Pokémon an increase in a particular stat or stats. This system was first founded in Ruby and Sapphire and games afterward began to follow the same system (Emerald, FireRed, LeafGreen, Diamond, and Pearl).

All Pokémon found in Ruby & Sapphire and later will have EV slots that will go to their corresponding slot. The slots are relative to their 6 stats which are HP, Attack, Defense, Speed, Special Attack, and Special Defense. So for visualization, think of it like this:

I have it color coded so it’s a bit easier to follow with all this black text in paragraphs.

Whenever one of your Pokémon defeats another Pokémon, that Pokémon will give EV Point(s) to the Pokémon that beat it. How many EV points you receive depends on the Pokémon. There is a chart showing all the Pokémon and how many point they give to what stat and that is found here:

Now first off if you catch a Pokémon in the wild or earn a new Pokémon as an event or got one newly hatched from an egg then that Pokémon will have all zeros for their EV slots. This means that they are fresh and have not defeated any Pokémon on their own and is ready for a clean start for EV training.

The term “EV Training” means that the trainer will train their Pokémon in such a selective way that that Pokémon will only receive EV points for a certain stat to build on. I will explain this in better detail in a moment but first I will explain the basic limits to the EV slots.

All 6 of the slots have a maximum ceiling (limit) of 255. This means that at any given time, a slot will not be greater than 255. So this is how it would look.

Technically that’s what it will look like but there is another limit one should be aware of. You can NEVER achieve all slots at 255 because the absolute total number of EV’s altogether must never be higher than 510. So that means a user can max out only 2 of the 6 slots at any time.

The sum of all 6 slots cannot be greater than 510!

What happens if you go over 510? Nothing, it just won’t calculate any further just like you can’t go past level 100 because the programming has set a max limit on it.

Now to affect a stat and gain points, you must have 4 EV toward that stat in order to produce +1 for it. So for every 4 EV a Pokémon earns at any time before the next level up, will count for +1 on the stat the trainer is working toward.

Now for some basic math:

If every 4 EV equals 1 point toward a stat, then how many EV’s are needed to max out a stat? Assuming you fight only Pokémon that give out 1 EV point only that would be…

4 * 63 = 252 EV points earned. So you will earn +63 points for a stat like Speed for example. The reason why you want to stop at 252 is because it’s for every 4 points you earn +1. Three more EV would hit 255 (the max limit) and that’s one point shy from earning another +1. So it’s waste lol. This is where you can “max” out at 252 for another stat and have a total of 504 in two stats. So let’s say I wanted to max out Speed and Attack; that would look like this:

You will normally see spreads done like this /252/252/6/ which means max out through EV training in two stats and the one left over give to another. This is a common method of doing it; however you can spread them in any way you wish as long the sum of EV’s don’t exceed 510. So here are other methods you can do depending on what you would like to favor:

Here is a more rounded approach that will allow +1 for the points left over to go to another stat. Again two points are wasted but if rounded is your approach then this method will work.

Another easy way to remember the math is that all the stats, in order to get +1, has to be a multiple of 4. Just open up Calculator and simply keep adding +4 to see how high you want to go for a spread.

3.) Further understanding EV

Now that I have covered what and how EV’s work, I will explain some small details about it further you should notice but not fear.

During your EV training, you may have trained your Pokémon for +3 on Attack (12 EV toward it) but you notice that you DON’T get that plus +3 on the next level up. This is normal and is likely to happen at early levels for there are other integers taking effect.

Don’t forget that the Pokémon already have random generated stats right from the beginning when you caught or obtained it. Doing EV Training will help you get extra points toward a stat. The Pokémon based on its nature and pre-generated stat values will have a progression of its own as it nears level 100. At this level you will then see your training in full effect and complete.

If you’ve planned and wrote down every stat your Pokémon received and you are on track, then everything will total up just fine. Remember the goal is to reach level 100 with your Pokémon you are EV Training. It is then everything will fall into place. But while you are progressing, you will notice your stats start to increase per level up around 3, 4, and 5. This is a sign that you know that your planning is working.

Now all of this sounds tedious and highly repetitious. This would be the case for Ruby and Sapphire for the idea was brand new at the time. Now that the system has been out in many games afterward, the developers have made it easier for those looking for extra customization.

Diamond and Pearl users are presented with options that will help you get more EV per battle and speed things up. I present the following options for a speedier training.

-Vitamins, EXP Share, and “Power” Items

Vitamins you buy at the department store (D&P) will normally and have always cost $9800. Ever since Ruby and Sapphire, they now help you out in EV training than just raising the stat. All of the 6 vitamins (HP UP, Protein, Iron, Carbos, Calcium, and Zinc) will give a Pokémon 10 EV points. For more information on Vitamins and how they affect you, refer to this part of the site:

That site will also cover about Power items for Pokémon to hold and anything else. Anything not covered there or on the serebii.net site can be asked HERE if it has not been covered and resolved already.

4.) Increasing & Decreasing EV’s?

- To decrease or not…

Now you are fully aware that you can increase your EV’s through normal battle…but what happens when you accidentally give a Pokémon the wrong amount? Well there is a solution for that and those are berries.

Pokémon Emerald introduced 6 berries that can reduce a stat’s EV. These same berries made their way to Diamond & Pearl for it was a big helping factor for those that are trying to perfect their values. Those 6 berries are:

There are 6 certain types of berries which will lower a Pokémon's EVs in a certain stat by 10, or if the EV number is above 100 of that stat it will immediately drop it to 100 (even if it is 255) allowing you to use a maximum of 11 berries to clear EVs of a particular Pokémon's stat. Note that berries and vitamins work on level 100 Pokémon but since they cannot gain EXP they cannot get EVs over 100 this way (because the vitamins will only raise a stat to that many EVs).

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- Further increasing EV points

They are all 16 Battle Points at the battle tower each. Each one will give 4 EVs to a certain stat whenever a Pokémon is holding it and gains EXP. Note that they will half speed while holding them just like the Macho Brace.

Each one gives a Pokémon 4 EVs if it gains EXP when an opponent Pokémon faints. Say you attach a power bracer to a Pokémon and defeat a Magikarp (which gives one EV in speed) you will gain 1 speed EV and 4 attack EVs. If you were to fight another Magikarp but were to instead use the power anklet you would gain (1+4) = 5 EVs in speed!
You must also know that PokéRus will double the EVs gained from the "power" items. So now lets have another battle with our Magikarp friend using a Pokémon holding power anklet with PokéRus. Defeating it would gain you a whopping (1+4)*2 = 10 EVs in speed!

This leads on to what is called VS. Seeker EV Training. The VS. Seeker is a key item you obtain in route 207. It allows you to re-battle trainers over and over again. It needs 100 steps to recharge after each use though (may have changed since FR/LG). The reason this is handy is because some trainers have a whole team of Pokémon that give out a certain EV, which will give you better EXP and quicker EV training.

Lets have a look at your new favorite trainer: Fisherman Andrew on route 205 on the water bridge section. He has 6 of our favorite Pokémon: level 10 Magikarps. Remember how much EVs they give with PokéRus and the power anklet, that's right it's 10. This means you can get 60 Speed EVs from battling him once. After that run around a bit to recharge the VS. Seeker, then battle him again for another 60 EVs. After doing this 4 times you will have gained 240 Speed EVs. To gain the remaining 12 remove the Power Anklet and beat him again for 252 Speed EVs. Since his Magikarp are all easy to faint and should only know Splash (I think) you won't need to switch out each time because most Pokémon will be able to beat them quite easily. This could complete your speed EV training in easily under 20 minutes without you having to spend money on vitamins each time.

Overtime you will find this area grow for there are a lot of places to cover. However inside the reference links I have provided, you should find a large spreadsheet of the areas you would like to train in. Because this list can be quite extensive, I will only post “hot spots” and Pokémon that give out the most and/or are common to find.

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XCPetro5678 from Smogon said:

*Wild Pokemon*

HP:
~Shellos at Valley Windworks north of ignore the Buizel (+1 each)
~Gastrodons at Fuego Ironworks or Route 213 ignore Floatzel (+2 each)
~Gastrodons outside of Pal Park (+2 each) *are there Floatzel here?*
~you can HP train on the rainy side of route 212 and if you surf in the water, you will encounter whoopers who give +1 HP EV, and these are very common, if you dont find this you will find quagsaire which gives +2 for HP.

Attack:
~Kricketune and Bidarel at route 212 (rainy route) (+2 each)
~For attack you can also use super rod on a route and the only thing you will find are gyardos which give +2 Attack, but fishing is long

Speed:
~Raticates and Fearows Northwest of the Fight Area (+2 each) *name?*
~Zubats in a cave (+1 each)
*anyone know whats the best cave?*

Special Attack:
~Gastly at the Old Chateau in Eterna Forest (+1 each) (Haunters +2) (Gengars +3)
*Need GBA Game in GBA slot and National Pokedex for Haunters and Gengars*
~Golducks surfing in the water at the Resort Area (+2 each)

Special Defense:
~Surfing any ocean/sea area for Tentacools (+1each)
*North of 8th gym town has been good ignore Pellipers* (Mantykes +1)

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6.) Questions & Answers

In this Section will contain links to previous threads and/or common questions that have or have not been answered so anyone that views this page can quickly find an answer.

Remember, if a question has not been answered or covered or you want more information on a certain part of the topic, then you should reply here asking the question. Don’t make a new thread for asking EV related questions for that’s what this thread is for.

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Q: What is EV Training?A: Well…READ FROM THE BEGINNING OF THIS GUIDE! Lol. Anything of this like is obviously covered well here though.

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Q: Will you help me pick out a good party and/or movesets I want for my party?A: There are plenty of people here that are very knowledgeable in these areas and you should PM them personally for help. Making a thread for it…I’m unsure if that’s a good idea. We will see what people on this thread have to say.

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Q: Anyone know where I can find the stats of certain Pokémon so I can EV train?A: Yes it’s already covered on the end of “1.) What are EV and its origins?” at the top of this page.

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Q: How does using the Macho Brace help and where can I find it?A: Macho Brace will double all EV gained in battle while it is held. However, it will cut the user’s Speed in half until it is removed. It is found in Pastoria City (Diamond & Pearl) inside the man’s house on the bottom left of the town who wants you to show him the 3 variations of Burmy.

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Q: What is PokéRus and how does it effect me? How do I get it?A: PokéRus is a random condition that happens to any of your Pokémon in your party in the game. Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center will tell you if you have a Pokémon that is afflicted with the condition. Having this on a Pokémon is not a bad thing. <smiles> THAT is a good thing lol.

This condition has the same exact effect as the Macho Brace as it gives the afflicted Pokémon double EV in battles. The only thing about this is that even after the condition disappears, the effect of having it still remains. So basically it is a permanent version of Macho Brace and having the condition with Macho Brace will definitely speed things up! This condition can also be passed to Pokémon in your party afterwards.

Q: I have Pokémon from Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed, and/or LeafGreen that I wish to migrate over to my Diamond or Pearl. Will their EV stats be affected?A: According to immortaldave and Ayo:

immortaldave said:

yeah they will. i recently transfered my ev trained dragonite into my pearl and it retained all its ev's it had gained in fire red.

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Ayo said:

I think they will stay the same because when u migrate everything stays the same, so i think they will.

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I believe so too for migration is just that, just simply bringing Pokémon over to the current versions. So no, they remain unchanged.

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Q: How can I tell if my Pokémon has reached the limit of 510 EV points?A: Simple, to be certain that you have reached 510 EV points, you must go see the lady at Sunyshore City in the Sunyshore Market that sells seals for your Pokéballs. She is the table on the table on the left and she will determine your top Pokémon and see if its at 510.

If you reach 510, then you will get the Effort Ribbon from her. If she tells you that your Pokémon needs to work a little harder, then you are not there yet

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That’s about it that I can find as dominant questions on the forum. ANY MORE QUESTIONS NOT COVERED HERE SHOULD BE ASKED HERE SO I CAN UPDATE THIS THREAD WITH THE QUESTIONS AND ITS CORRESPONDING ANSWERS!

I hope this little guide helps out many people here^^ Don’t be shy to ask, just refer to early threads made before this and of course read over the guide I just made and also check out the Reference Sites below for more information. You have a boat load of info but if there is something you can clarifying or want additional info, then ask here.

Reference Sites:

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-rs/ev.shtml (Common site that explains EV, Pokémon that give what amounts, and anything else you want to know by using the navigation on the left side! Fear not if it seems to talk about the GBA games, it also applies to Diamond & Pearl I promise you!)

http://pokeguide.filb.de/icons.php (WARNING: This site may take a while to load for it is showing every D&P sprite icon of all the 483 Pokémon. Click on any Pokémon for its moves that it will learn, what moves can be learned through TM & HM’s, and moves that will be inherited by breeding. Excellent site for learning what Pokémon can learn what to help you in your movesets!)

http://www.pokecharms.com/trainercards/ (Another good site with lots of info…but this site is more commonly known for its’ Trainer Card ID generator. You can make a card showing your Pokémon in your party and even a sprite image of the trainer you like to represent. Unfortunately you can’t link it as your signature here But it is great to have nonetheless^^

Enjoy everyone!^^

ANYTHING I MISSED OR MADE AN ERROR DURING THE EXPLANATIONS, LET ME KNOW SO I CAN CHANGE! Let me know for any mistakes^^; I want this to be a good reference thread.

Newest questions added (send me a PM if you have more questions -Chicagoan- or post here)

Question on 07-27-2007

Arcadium said:

Hey I've got a question about this:

If I want to train my pokemon, only with HP, then I need to fight with only Pokemons that give that EV points until it reaches the new lvl, so I was wondering: When I kill a Pokemon, I gather a new EV point, or if I kill only that type of pokemon in my whole lvl (until reach the new one) I'll get 4 EV points?

Please help me out with this

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You will see your final results of EV training at lv100. Maybe you can defeat 6 magickarps and only get +1 when reaching the next level. Don't worry, it is completely normal. Your powemon archived those EVs already and it will be earning stats slowly. Be patient and wait to lv100. You may do a lv100 battle when EV training is done. By that way, you will see the stats at lv100 (and the results of your EV training)

Question on 07-27-2007

Arcadium said:

OK, but I wish to know, is if when I gather the new EV points is when I grow up on lvl or when I kill a PKMN?

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You will earn EV points per each pokemon you defeat. You do not need to level up to gain the EVs... If you defeat a geodude for example, your pokemon archives 1 EV for Defense. If you defeat an Alakazam, your pokemon archives 3 EVs for Sp Defense. Then depending on power items and pokerus, you may earn more. But that is already explained above.

If I want to train my pokemon, only with HP, then I need to fight with only Pokemons that give that EV points until it reaches the new lvl, so I was wondering: When I kill a Pokemon, I gather a new EV point, or if I kill only that type of pokemon in my whole lvl (until reach the new one) I'll get 4 EV points?

You will see your final results of EV training at lv100. Maybe you can defeat 6 magickarps and only get +1 when reaching the next level. Don't worry, it is completely normal. Your powemon archived those EVs already and it will be earning stats slowly. Be patient and wait to lv100. You may do a lv100 battle when EV training is done. By that way, you will see the stats at lv100 (and the results of your EV training)

chicagoans this may be off topic but how long does it take u to get a lvl 100? and aracadium start from lvl 1 when u EV traim cuz if u start from a high lvl( 50 like i did to my gengar) it will gain alot but after that will sjut cotinuing getting plus 1 and 2 cuz i got plus 30 one time and just stopped gaining

nice to learn about this when my pokemon are all level 70! quick question though, my mismagius has **** defence, i did a bit of training in the iron island and it was gaining +1 defence. if i do normal battles, every two of three times it will earn +0 defence, so basically what i'm asking is it worth EV training my pokemon now when there levels are this high, will it work?

Ness: You should consider that if your PKMN has reached its total EV's, the best thing to do is start over again... between, you should check:

to be certain that you have reached 510 EV points, you must go see the lady at Sunyshore City in the Sunyshore Market that sells seals for your Pokéballs. She is the table on the table on the left and she will determine your top Pokémon and see if its at 510.

If you reach 510, then you will get the Effort Ribbon from her. If she tells you that your Pokémon needs to work a little harder, then you are not there yet